MP Proposes Need for Teachers' Protection Law, Here is the Reason

Member of the House of Representatives’ Legislation Body, Firman Soebagyo, has proposed the Teachers’ Protection and National Teachers’ Body Act because the state is deemed negligent towards the Constitution’s mandate to protect teachers. Firman criticised the state’s commitment to fulfilling educational rights. He assessed that the government has not earnestly implemented the 1945 Constitution’s mandate, particularly regarding the state’s obligations on education and teachers’ welfare. Firman emphasised that the national education problem is not merely a matter of technical policies, but a structural failure in understanding the constitution. The Golkar Party politician cited the fact that free education implementation has only been running in recent years as an indication of the state’s slow response to mandates and basic societal rights. “This is not about programmes, this is about commitment. So where is the state’s seriousness?” said Firman in his written statement on Saturday, 28 March 2026. Firman also highlighted the irony on the ground, namely that teachers—whom he called the main foundation of national development—are instead living in pitiful conditions, especially those with non-civil servant status or auxiliary and honorary teachers. Although the government often promotes educational progress, Firman assessed that the reality of teachers’ welfare shows a wide gap of inequality. For example, low teacher salaries, irregular payments, and the absence of future guarantees are recurring portraits. “There are still teachers paid Rp 300 thousand, paid every three months. This is not just a technical issue, this is the state’s failure to protect the very strategic teaching profession,” said the Golkar Party politician. Firman even revealed that he had once urged the government to improve teachers’ welfare. However, he emphasised that the budget for teachers’ welfare has still not become the government’s top priority. Moreover, there is inconsistency in the direction of national education policies that often change following regime changes. Firman assessed that this pattern shows the absence of a grand, sustainable education roadmap. “Every time the government changes, the system changes. This is not reform, this is confusion that is legalised,” he said. Firman believes that the Teachers’ Protection and National Teachers’ Body Act is needed to formulate a long-term education roadmap towards the Golden Indonesia 2045 vision. Without a clear direction, he assessed that this target would only become political slogans. On the regulatory side, he also highlighted derivative rules that are deemed counterproductive, particularly regarding the age limit for civil servant (ASN) appointments. He assessed that these provisions actually discriminate against teachers who have long served. As a solution, Firman urged the birth of the Teachers’ Protection Act that is lex specialis in nature and designed through an omnibus law approach. He assessed that this step is important to clean up various overlapping regulations that are not favourable to teachers. “If the state is serious, that favouritism must be concrete, not rhetoric. Teachers are not a budget burden, but an investment in the future,” he said. If this condition continues to be ignored, Firman said the state fails to maintain the most basic foundation of development, namely fair and dignified education.